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Man, 88, says woman took him for $200,000

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 23, 2008

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PORT RICHEY

An 88-year-old man in Holiday Hills says an acquaintance bilked him out of nearly $200,000. The Sheriff's Office is investigating, but no arrests have been made. Joseph Keseros said he's now getting by on Social Security and a small pension - a total of about $1,200 a month. He built his savings over the years, he said, by moving his nest egg from bank to bank, wherever he got the best interest rate. In late December, Keseros said a woman persuaded him to appoint her power of attorney to help him pay his bills. "Like a fool," Keseros said, "I gave it to her." Soon, two bank accounts were empty. He said she left about $4,800 in a third account.

LAND O'LAKES

Owner asks for rezoning of 10 acres

A 10-acre patch of vacant land just north of Lester's Dairy on U.S. 41 is going to the County Commission for rezoning in February. The owner, Richard Charlick of Keene Road LLC, wants to build an 84,500-square-foot mini-warehouse and 30,000-square-foot office on Keene Road, to be developed by 2012, according to county records. The company, which has a Valley Forge, Pa., address, bought the site for $2.1-million last August.

NEW PORT RICHEY

bank robbery suspect faces federal charges

Kenneth Wayne Benzo may not be Pasco County's problem anymore. The 48-year-old career criminal was indicted by a federal grand jury last month on charges of robbing two Pittsburgh banks. Those banks were robbed in November, according to the indictment. Local authorities accuse Benzo of robbing three west Pasco banks in six days in October. Defense attorney Geoffrey Cox filed a motion last week asking to be removed from the local criminal cases against Benzo, who is in federal custody in Pennsylvania, Cox said. "The defendant ... will likely not return to Florida until his federal charges are resolved AND any federal sentence he receives is served," Cox wrote in his motion, adding Benzo "may not return to Florida ever." Benzo faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the federal charges, according to Cox.